Convenience stores are often prime targets for armed robbers. Many are open throughout the night, in dangerous neighborhoods, staffed by a solitary, or at most, two cashiers. Various measures have been taken by the owners and operators of such stores to reduce robbery-associated losses without increasing the danger to the cashiers or other employees, or to innocent bystanders. Such measures include the use of a safe that cannot be opened by the cashier, but which has a "mail slot" or other similar opening into which the cashier can deposit, but cannot withdraw, cash. Other measures include surveillance cameras, which photograph the robber to assist in his or her later apprehension, silent alarms, which notify local police of the robbery, and measuring tapes affixed to the doorways, which assist the cashier in determining the height of the robber for later description to police.
To avoid the likelihood of the robber injuring, or possibly killing the cashier or bystanders, cashiers are usually instructed to cooperate fully with the robber. Cashiers are also instructed to note the physical appearance of the robber for later description to police. However, owing to the extreme circumstances, and the fact that robbers may wear masks or stockings to distort their features, cashiers are often unable to give exact descriptions, or even to identify the robber in the unlikely event he or she is later captured. According to the National Crime Victimization Survey by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, in 1993 1.3 million robberies were attempted in the United States, of these, some 826,000 were successfully completed.
Even more disturbing, however, is a trend that has recently evolved in the behavior of convenience store robbers. For whatever reasons, be it to eliminate witnesses, or to prevent the triggering of silent alarms, convenience store robbers have begun simply to shoot the cashier and other employees immediately upon entering the store and to carry out the robbery after killing all others present.
Although it would theoretically be possible to train cashiers in armed self defense and permit them to shoot it out with this new breed of convenience store robber, the potential for further loss of life would be exacerbated. A store cashier could not possibly remain vigilant at all times, nor could a cashier be expected to assess a particular situation and make the decision to use deadly force before a robber, who has already made the decision to use deadly force, could carry out his or her plan. Accordingly, even a well trained cashier would, in all probability be killed by the armed robber, simply because of the difficulty an ordinary person has in making the decision to use deadly force. Moreover, the possibility that a cashier could accidentally shoot an innocent patron makes the foregoing strategy entirely unacceptable.
What is needed then is a system that will deter this new breed of convenience store robber by ensuring that the robber will be incapacitated automatically upon the discharge of his or her weapon, without the cashier being required to make a decision to use deadly force. What is also needed is a non-lethal robbery deterrent system that will permit a cashier to protect himself or herself from an armed robber without having to make a decision to use deadly force.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for deterring convenience store robberies by delivering a non-lethal incapacitating agent onto a robber automatically upon the discharge of a firearm within the store.
Another significant object of the invention is to provide for a cashier or employee initiated system for delivering a non-lethal incapacitating agent onto a robber who has not yet discharged a firearm within the store, but who may be threatening to do so.
Another significant object of the invention is to provide a system for physically marking an armed robber so that, in the event the armed robber recovers from the incapacitating agent in time to escape before police arrive, apprehension of the robber will be facilitated.